We’re going to
Empower kids. Change the world.
2024 Dates Coming Soon!
-
Student Camp
Rising 9-12th Graders
Beginner to Advanced
Speech & Debate StudentsCoach Camp
Current Coaches
Prospective Coaches
-
-
Mon–Fri 9am–5pm
What do we offer?
Two weeks’ instruction on argumentation, advocacy, and constructive discourse
Separate courses for different competitive events, plus a general studies course for non-competitors
Socioemotional lessons on healthy communication
Individualized feedback and progress report
Lunch daily
BDL t-shirt
Guest stars from the BDL network to judge, provide feedback, and advise on how these skills work in their professions as lawyers, journalists, actors, etc.
How much does it cost?
We charge tuition on a sliding scale, based on the NYC Area Median Income as determined by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Education has a unique impact on life outcomes and communal good, making equity-based access imperative for both equality of opportunity and for national interests. The BDL is committed to making our summer camp accessible to a cross-section of families in our city.
Want to help empower the next generation?
Meet Our Coaches
-
![]()
Sasan Kasravi
Camp Director
Sasan is a longtime debate coach, captain of the nationally-ranked team at Diablo Valley College, and the founder of the Proteus Debate Academy. He's won awards both as a competitor and as a coach, such as making the final round at the Phi Rho Pi College National Championship Tournament and receiving the Collie-Taylor Coaching Fellowship.
-
![]()
Joey DiColandrea
Program Director
Joey competed at Stuyvesant High School from 2002-06, on a team that won national recognition across several categories and with whom he won the NSDA national championship in prose reading. He’s been coaching ever since, and began teaching in 2017. Joey has a B.A. in Economics from Clark University and an M.A. in Education from Relay GSE. In a previous life with the 10th Mountain Infantry Division, he was commended for his work as a civil-military liaison, training officer, and WMD-detection platoon leader. If you count his year running an embassy-sponsored Pashtun radio station in Afghanistan, this is his second nonprofit aimed at improving civic discourse.
-
![]()
K.M. DiColandrea
Executive Director
From 1999-2003, DiCo competed on the Stuyvesant HS Speech & Debate Team, where he was a state finalist in Extemporaneous Speaking and a national finalist in Congressional Debate. After graduating with a B.A. in Philosophy from Yale, he joined Teach for America and started debate teams at the Frederick Douglass Academy and Achievement First Brooklyn High School. DiCo is a recipient of several teaching prizes including the Teach for America Alumni Award for Excellence. He has been named a Master Teacher by the Achievement First charter school network and a First Diamond Coach. In 2022, he was honored to receive the Brother Sterner Lifetime Service Award by the National Speech and Debate Association.
